TELANGANA: Sixteen men have been arrested after a female forest official was brutally beaten with sticks by a mob as police officers watched in the southern Indian state of Telangana. The mob, led by a member of the state’s ruling party, was protesting against a tree plantation drive on Sunday.
A video of the incident has gone viral, and the party has condemned the attack on Twitter. The forest officer is being treated in hospital for severe injuries.
The mob was protesting against a tree plantation drive on Sunday when Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLA Koneru Kannappa’s brother, Krishna Rao, launched an attack with a stick on the female forest officer. Several other men followed and were filmed attacking her with bamboo sticks, as she stood on a tractor, trying to placate them. But they repeatedly hit the female forest officer until other forest officials and local police came to her rescue.
The viral video drew immense flak on Twitter and led to outrage across the country. The TRS party also condemned the attack on Twitter and later confirmed that accused Rao has been arrested, BBC reported.
Comment